Young Teen Short Stories

Twelve-year-old Amy knows there's some connection between Aunt Claire's old dollhouse in her great-grandparents' attic and a deadly family secret from years ago. Aunt Claire seems upset about the dollhouse, which is a replica of the house they're in, but she's not talking.

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies.

I need answers only my father can provide. Separated from birth, we’ve only recently connected. Still, I have no one else to turn to. The Deltites are hunting me and they’re close now. We’ll fight our final battle soon. Needing more information, I force him to tell me a story about the beginning, my beginning. He sheds new light on my mom, on my grandfather Sicheii, and on how I started down this path. He spins a tale about love, a recent murder, and mysterious strangers who come to town looking for a medicine man, my grandfather.

Originally published in The New Haven Review, this story features a young married couple who struggle through the rough landscape of Southern Illinois in the late 1950s. They argue over the purchase of a five-dollar-a-month Sears and Roebuck kitchen table, but it ends up saving lives.

A town is overrun by road weenies - a.k.a. joggers - who never smile. A girl thinks she's too old for Halloween...until she finds a special pair of gloves. A boy takes a shortcut to an unexpected place. A mummy takes his revenge, one little piece at a time.... These 35 tales ranging from the silly and offbeat to flat-out horrifying are just right for listening alone in the dark.

Best-selling author Robert Cormier's suspenseful and masterfully told novel takes bold steps into some of the most difficult topical territory ever conceived for young adult fiction.

Love at First Book is a sweet, romantic YA short story in verse. From across the coffee shop Lorelei catches a stanza of heart-stopping description of a boy with a book in his back pocket. And that might have been her last line if he didn't leave it behind with a poem tucked between the pages. A poem about a candy-striper with bright hair and an angel's voice who reads to hospital patients like Lorelei does.

Do you like coming of age stories? Stories that have romance, fear, and hope? Say hello to Heroine. Heroine and the other stories in this collection showcase hardships that are prevalant into todays world such as drugs, bullying, and self-doubt. Follow Cody, Lillie, and Hannah in their journeys of self discovery and acceptance.

Study Break, a collection of interconnected contemporary Young Adult short stories written by Gen Z authors, explores different parts of "the college experience," from questioning your major to questioning your identity.

When the world's most horrible editor turns up dead, investigator Jon Scieszka has his work cut out for him. The suspect list is long. Very long. Think eighty-three-famous-YA-authors long, including Libba Bray, David Levithan, John Green, Lemony Snicket, Lauren Myracle - you get the picture. They've all got alibis, collected in this very anthology. But the question is ... Who done it? A 2013 AudioFile Editors' Pick.

"Where did she go? Behind those trees? Is she still hiding there, just as the river twists and turns, down below the grassy bank? I’m sure I saw her just a moment ago, skipping between the tree trunks." Lady Deablin Armstrang's only friend is a magical nymph that appears to her between tree trunks of Ettrick Forest. Is she real or just the play of her imagination? When an unexpected visitor arrives in the forest Deablin must decide whether duty or friendship will win her hand.

Eleven-year-old Lady Wynn Hoppringle longs to be free from rules and duty of her family home at Smailholm Tower. Whilst out exploring on the wild moors, she comes across a big secret of the smallest kind, hidden beneath the prickly brambles. What will she find? And will she keep it a secret?

Jenny is the smallest of all the small girls in the world. She is afraid of foxes, the rabbits, the birds, and even the mice that roam the forbidden moor where she lives. When one day she falls down a mouse hole, she must find a way to be brave. Will she escape? Or remain the most afraid miniature girl there ever was?

Poisonous girls whose kisses will kill. A fateful eating contest with the devil. Faeries who return to Ironside, searching for love. A junior prom turned bacchanalia. In twelve short stories, eerie and brimming with suspense and unexpected humor, Holly Black twists the fantastical creatures you thought you knew in ways you’ll never expect.

Guy de Maupassant, French master of the short story, had a simple, efficient style of writing and, like Anton Chekhov, found inspiration for his stories in the daily lives of humans, which often reveal our darker nature. Many of his works also centered on the Franco-Prussian War, in which he served.

Predatory kraken that sing with - and for - their kin; band members and betrayed friends who happen to be demonic; harpies as likely to attract as to repel. Welcome to a world where humans live side-by-side with monsters, from vampires both nostalgic and bumbling, to an eight-legged alien who makes tea. Here you'll find mercurial forms that burrow into warm fat, spectral boy toys, a Maori force of nature, a landform that claims lives, and an architect of hell on earth.

If the melt-down, flood, plague, the third World War, new Ice Age, Rapture, alien invasion, clamp-down, meteor, or something else entirely hit today, what would tomorrow look like? Some of the biggest names in YA and adult literature answer that very question in this short story anthology, each story exploring the lives of teen protagonists raised in catastrophe's wake - whether set in the years soon after the change, or in decades far in the future.

A unique collection of eclectic stories and poetry designed to entertain, delight, and make you ponder everything. It has been compared to Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone for its creepy tone and themes.

A modern romance short story about teenagers from two minorities. They meet at an afternoon job. Both are poor and underprivileged. She balances his anger, and he provides safety and security. This short story of a relationship ended before its time.

In an apartment building in the Lower East Side of New York City, success is reserved for the Puerto Rican locos who are willing to do anything to make a buck. Everyone else remains stagnant, not daring to dream on the boss’ turf. Shortly after her 17th birthday, Yasmin knows that rescuing three pit bulls from a nightmarish life will upset their poor excuse for an owner. However, the teen never imagines saving the dogs will land her on the bad side of the worst people.